For squad-members only! Why some teachers are more popular to interact with than others in data use

Teacher interactions are seen as a source for teachers’ professional development. To better understand this potential, research is needed into who is consulted in data use. Therefore, this study investigates whether Flemish teachers’ popularity in data use discussions can be attributed to formal aspects of the formal school organization, similarity among teachers, proximity and informal bonds between teachers. A multi method study combining social network analysis and interview data was designed. The results reveal that informal bonds between teachers may not be overlooked in how interactions are formed. Because the participants do not seem to choose the colleagues they interact with for data use purposefully, the potential of these interactions for their professional development is questionable. Future research should invest in examining how conscious teachers are of the knowledge and skills of their colleagues in data use and how this knowledge affects the formation of data use interactions.     

质量数为什么会大于原子质量

质量数和原子质量是中学化学中常见的两个基本概念,前者表示某核素原子核中质子数与中子数之和,后者表示某核素一个原子的质量;搞清两者的相对大小,对学习化学知识有很大的意义。     

Some grammatical rules are more difficult than others: The case of the generic interpretation of the masculine

In this paper we argue that the generic use of the masculine represents a grammatical rule that might be easy to learn but difficult to apply when understanding texts. This argument is substantiated by reviewing the relevant literature as well as the recent work conducted by the GREL Group (Gender Representation in Language) on the interaction between stereotypical and grammatical information in the construction of a representation of gender when reading role names. The studies presented in this paper show that the masculine form used as a generic to refer to persons of both sexes, or to persons of indefinite sex or whose sex is irrelevant, in gender marked languages is likely to be associated with its specific meaning (i.e., masculine refers only to men). This is true even though the generic nature of the masculine is a very common grammatical rule learnt at school. People may have learned this rule and may understand it, but may not readily apply it.     

All are equal,but some are more equal than others: managerialism and gender equality in higher education in comparative perspective

The main purpose of this paper is to investigate what impact new regimes of management and governance, including new managerialism, have had on perceptions of gender equality at universities in three Western European countries. While in accordance with national laws and EU directives, contemporary current management approaches in universities should, in theory, stimulate equality of opportunities and diminish regimes of inequality, our findings from qualitative interviews across the Netherlands, Sweden and the UK provide a very different picture. Our data show that these new governance approaches actually re-emphasise the existing status quo in various ways and enable more subtle forms of discrimination despite the existence of a veneer of equality. Consequently, some women find themselves sidelined by the gap between formal procedures designed to deal with inequalities and the institutional cultures and practices towards selection and promotion.     

Why some school subjects have a higher status than others: The epistemology of the traditional curriculum hierarchy

Inherent in most school curricula is some sort of curriculum hierarchy—that is, an assumption that some school subjects are more valuable than others. This paper examines the epistemological assumptions that underpin one such curriculum hierarchy, which I refer to as ‘the traditional curriculum hierarchy’. It is a pervasive and problematic idea which maintains that supposedly abstract school subjects, like mathematics and physics, are more valuable than subjects associated with concrete experience, practicality and the body, such as physical education and vocational subjects. Drawing on Dewey, an alternative, non-hierarchical theory of curriculum will be proposed. Contrary to common misinterpretations of his ideas, it is argued that Dewey did not prioritise student interests over disciplinary content. Dewey proposed a curriculum grounded in authentic social problems that required students to draw simultaneously on knowledge and methods from multiple disciplines in an interconnected manner in order to work through such problems. Current policies and initiatives, especially the Australian national curriculum and the English Baccalaureate, are discussed.     

Assessing more than you teach: the difficult case of transfer

We conducted two case studies to evaluate the effectiveness of individualized remedial reading instruction linked to direct measures of student learning and transfer. The participants were two first grade children at serious risk of reading failure. The instruction targeted decoding of one syllable short vowel words and first emphasized onset-rimes and then phoneme manipulation. Forty words organized into 10 rime patterns were targeted for instruction. Probes consisting of all the instructional words were administered before each instructional session to monitor student progress. We also administered transfer probes to determine if the children could apply their knowledge more broadly. Instruction with onset-rime units yielded excellent maintenance and near transfer (novel words containing instructed rimes) but not far transfer (novel words derived from uninstructed rimes). The instructional change to phoneme manipulation yielded better far transfer for one of the two children. We consider the importance of administering measures that assess more than what is taught to get an accurate portrait of children’s responsiveness to instruction.     

Why teaching creativity requires more than just producing more ‘creativity’

Creativity is usually defined in terms of the production end of ideas or products, yet a neglected aspect of creativity, though no less vital, is the process by which creative products are critically evaluated, selected, altered or dismissed by the creator. Any attempt to promote creative thinking skills in schools needs to also address this aspect of critical thinking in creativity—failure to do so results not in usefully creative children, but merely indulgent ones.     

Why some distance education programs fail while others succeed in a global environment

Many universities increase their recruiting efforts to reach a larger and more diverse audience. Some universities also extend their reach with cross-border initiatives and seek international students in order to promote enrollment growth and global learning. The economic potential of distance education and academic globalization has attracted numerous higher education providers, many of which operate on a for-profit basis. The result is an increase in competition for students, which leads to added pressure on universities to control costs and rising tuition. Those online programs unable to successfully adapt to this competitive environment are at risk of failing. This article draws from the research literature and US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filings to examine seven important factors that help determine the success or failure of online programs. These factors are planning, marketing and recruitment, financial management, quality assurance, student retention, faculty development, and online course design and pedagogy.     

Why mission matters more for (some) charter principals

Reflecting post-bureaucratic organisation theory, education reformers intended charter schools to empower school-level leaders, most typically principals, with autonomy to pursue clear, student-centred missions. Yet little research explores whether charter school principals have more power than traditional public school counterparts. We summarise the limited literature addressing the issue. Second, we present findings from interviews with nine charter leaders from six US states who have experience in leading both charter and traditional public schools, a unique data set. Both prior research and our findings suggest that generally, leaders feel more likely to be held accountable for results in charter schools than in traditional public schools. Furthermore, without oversight from school boards and central office administrators, charter leaders report having more power over budget and personnel, and more ability to collaborate with teachers. At the same time, standalone charter leaders report needing business support and training, while those from charter management organizations feel free to focus on academic success.     

To attend or not to attend? Why some students chose school and others reject it

This article considers the issues of attendance and non‐attendance, the latter of which has been recently linked with ‘behaviour’ in a range of policy initiatives in England. John Dwyfor Davies and John Lee review some of the existing material on non‐attendance and then draw on data they have collected in one large English city. The authors summarise their discussions with 13 non‐attending young people and some of their parents, as well as conversations with 35 students who have a satisfactory attendance record, together with a perspective from educational professionals. The authors address the issue of why certain students, who apparently will gain little from school, in terms of certification, continue to attend school. They argue that ignoring the reasons why such students actually attend school is a major oversight in current research.     

Stimuli that signal the absence of reinforcement are paid more attention than are irrelevant stimuli

According to established theories of attention (e.g., Mackintosh, 1975; Sutherland & Mackintosh, 1971), simple discriminations of the form AX+ BX- result in an increase in attention to stimuli A and B, which are relevant to the outcome that follows them, at the expense of X, which is irrelevant. Experiments that have apparently shown such changes in attention have failed to determine whether attention is enhanced to both A and B, which signal reinforcement and nonreinforcement, respectively, or just to A. In Experiments 1 and 2, pigeons were trained with a number of discriminations of the kind AX+ BX-, before compounds that had been consistently nonreinforced were involved in a subsequent discrimination. Both experiments provided support for theories that propose that more attention is paid to stimuli that consistently signal nonreinforcement than to irrelevant stimuli in simple discriminations.     

这些高职生为何比本科生还抢手

记者从北京高校毕业生就业指导中心获悉,今年北京高校毕业生的平均就业率为85.3％,一般高职生的就业率不足60％,北京航空航天大学职业技术学院、北京信息职业技术学院、海淀走读大学、首钢工学院和北京市计划劳动管理干部学院等6所高校的高职就业率超过了90％,首次超过     

Assisting self-explanation prompts are more effective than open prompts when learning with multiple representations

Learning with multiple representations is usually employed in order to foster understanding. However, it also imposes high demands on the learners and often does not lead to the expected results, especially because the learners do not integrate the different representations. Thus, it is necessary to support the learners’ self-explanation activity, which concerns the integration and understanding of multiple representations. In the present experiment, we employed multi-representational worked-out examples and tested the effects of two types of self-explanation prompts as help procedures for integrating and understanding multiple representations. The participants (N = 62) learned about probability theory under three conditions: (a) open self-explanation prompts, (b) self-explanation prompts in an assistance-giving-assistance-withholding procedure (assisting self-explanation prompts), or (c) no prompts (control group). Both types of self-explanation prompts fostered procedural knowledge. This effect was mediated by self-explanations directed to domain principles. Conceptual knowledge was particularly fostered by assisting self-explanation prompts which was mediated by self-explanations on the rationale of a principle. Thus, for enhancing high-quality self-explanations and both procedural knowledge and conceptual understanding, we conclude that assisting self-explanation prompts should be provided. We call this the assisting self-explanation prompt effect which refers to the elicitation of high-quality self-explanations and the acquisition of deep understanding.